Shoe with electrically conductive sole

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a shoe ( 1 ) with an electrically conductive sole ( 2 ) and with at least one contact electrode ( 7, 8 ) inside the shoe ( 1 ), which is electrically connected to the sole ( 2 ). An improvement of health and personal well-being can be achieved by providing at least one permanent magnet ( 6 ) in the middle section of the sole ( 2 ).

The invention relates to a shoe with an electrically conductive sole and with at least one contact electrode inside the shoe, which is electrically connected to the sole.

It is well known that the health and well-being of human beings can be improved by providing an electrically conductive contact between their feet and the ground as they move. In this way conditions analogous to those of barefoot walking may be attained even when shoes are worn. DE 102 55 408 A, WO 96/41550 A or DE 21 47 904 A for instance disclose shoes in which means are provided for establishing electrical contact between the footsole and the sole of the shoe.

Although these known shoes achieve a significant improvement over conventional shoes, the beneficial effects are limited. Whereas negative influences can be compensated to a high degree, positive health-improving effects will not be obtained with these shoes.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome these disadvantages and to propose a shoe which exerts an ascertainably positive effect on the health and well-being of the wearer.

The invention achieves its aim by providing that at least one permanent magnet is placed in the middle section of the sole and is coordinated with an acupuncture point. By combining electrical grounding with a permanent magnet, which is superimposed on the earth's magnetic field and exerts a constant influence on the wearer of the shoe, provable and testable effects can be achieved. These effects are particularly significant if the permanent magnet is located in the area of the end-point of the kidney meridian. This end-point, the acupuncture point N1, also designated Yong Quan or “bubbling source”, is located on the sole of the foot at the boundary between the front third and the middle third of the foot, behind the second and third metatarsophalangial joint in the depression formed by plantar flexion. Indications corresponding to this acupuncture point comprise headaches in the parietal area, loss of consciousness, sunstroke, hysteria, epilepsy, haemorrhagia cerebri, and micturitional disorders.

According to the concepts of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) the acupuncture meridians are lines along which Qi, the vital energy, flows. A more precise definition specifies them as assumed flow paths for energy exchange between the body surface—and thus the environment—and the “orbs” of the body interior (=organic functional circuits). These paths are of a logical but not of a material nature.

The individual meridians correspond to certain systems of organs, i.e. the concrete kidney meridian to the kidney. It should be noted, however, that the Chinese concept of an organ is not identical with that of western medicine. In TCM the concept “kidney”—SHEN refers not only to the production and excretion of urine, but the kidney is also seen as the essential seat of vital energy, activity and the power of growth. The kidney is also supposed to have a connection with the ear, i.e. loss of hearing is attributed to a deficiency of the kidney. Since the kidney is the seat of vital energy, symptoms such as feebleness, weariness, easy exhaustibility, lethargy, timidity, depressive feelings and the like, but also symptoms of the locomotive system, such as stiffness of the spine, are attributed to disorders of the kidney. The kidney-meridian starts at the point N1 described above, runs along the medial side of the foot joint, of the lower leg and thigh, groin and abdomen, and ends below the clavicle at the joining point of the sternum at the point N27 Yu Fu (workshop of assent).

For evaluating the effect of the invention the procedure developed at the University of St. Petersburg has been described in Korotkov K.: Human Energy Field Study with GDV Bioelectrography, Backbone Publishing, St. Petersburg, 348 pages, 2003; Dobson P. and O'Keefe E.: Int. J. Altern. Complim. Med. 7, 12-17, 2000; Hacker et al.: Forsch. Kompl. Med. Forsch. Komplementärmed. 12, 315-327, 2005.

With the concept of “area-of-glow” the procedure used in this pilot study provides a physical-biomedical parameter of good reproducibility for analysis of the “relative effectiveness of diverse stress interventions” (Korotkov, 2002). During recent years it has become increasingly clear that the area-of-glow parameter would permit sensitive indication of certain forms of stress. In particular, by comparing a “control” with the application of a possible “stressor” one can determine if a relative intensification or a relative attenuation of the human energy field (HEF) might have taken place. Meridian analyses of GDV-corona images performed by complementary medicine subsequently provide indications as to which organ systems might be influenced and in which way.

The GDV-measurements (Gas Discharge Visualisation) can be described as follows.

By means of a highly sensitive GDV-camera corona discharges at the ten fingertips of both hands were recorded six times each, following the two test periods of ten minutes each, and were evaluated and analysed bio-statistically with the use of image-zytometric procedures (computer-aided image analysis). In addition to these “static GDV-measurements” “dynamic GDV-measurements” were carried out at the third fingers of both hands (2×3×20 seconds).

Additionally, as already indicated above, “whole-body corona diagrams” were determined from the individual distributions of the corona discharges of the fingertips in accordance with the principles of energy meridian doctrine and acupuncture. This provides coefficients characterising the energetic state of organs or organ systems. Their numerical deviations from the “optimum mean” also were tested statistically.

GDV-analysis was carried out using the hands of test subjects, since it is known from hand acupuncture, that the acupuncture meridians and their acupuncture points have corresponding sites on the hands. In the concrete case the kidney meridian is mapped in this system on the middle and little fingers of both hands. The following points are of interest:

-   -   3L2—left kidney/mapped onto the tip of the left middle finger,         segment 2     -   5L2—left kidney/mapped onto the tip of the little finger of the         left hand, segment 2     -   3R5—right kidney/mapped onto the tip of the right middle finger,         segment 5     -   5R4—right kidney/mapped onto the tip of the little finger of the         right hand, segment 4.

Furthermore an effort was made to determine from the GDV-data of the study whether shoes according to the invention exerted certain testable energetic effects on the immune system and on the cardiovascular system, here also using methods of complementary medicine derived from the TCM system. The following fingertip areas represent the above mentioned systems:

-   -   3RL+3L5—immune system/represented on the tips of both middle         fingers, segments 2 and 5     -   3R6+3L1—cardiovascular system/represented on the tips of both         middle fingers, segments 6 and 1.

First, corona diagrams in the form of whole-body projections were computed and drawn from the measurement data. It was found that with shoes according to the invention a smoothing of the corona diagrams was achieved as compared with state-of-the-art shoes. This means that energetically weak points of the state-of-the-art situation indicated meridianwise could often be significantly remedied.

Thereafter the measurement data obtained at the fingertips were mathematically/statistically evaluated. First, the GDV-“area-of-glow” parameter was determined for all 10 fingertips. In the relevant literature this “area-of-glow” parameter is usually associated with the presence of stress, with an increase of the parameter value implying stress reduction. An increased GDV “area-of-glow” parameter is thus an indication of improved well-being or health.

In the tests with state-of-the-art shoes a mean value of the “area-of-glow” parameter of 11.464 was recorded. In contrast to this the tests with shoes according to the invention produced a mean value of 12.879. This increase of the “area-of-glow” parameter is statistically significant at more than the 99.9% level.

Besides, in single-point evaluations at the points 3L2, 5L2, 3R5, 5R4 the shoe according to the invention consistently has been better with statistical significance.

The authors of the study, Univ. Prof. Dr. Gerhard W. Hacker and HR Prim. Univ. Prof. Dr. Gernot Pauser, arrive at the conclusion that wearing of shoes according to the invention has a significant effect on the health or well-being of the subjects.

A particularly preferred embodiment of the invention provides that the sole is made of an electrically insulating layer on whose underside an electrically conductive layer is applied and that a connecting wire is provided, which connects the electrically conductive layer with the contact electrode. It is of particular advantage if the connecting wire comprises silver filaments, which preferably should be braided. It has been found that this will ensure particularly high effectiveness.

It is furthermore of particular advantage if the permanent magnet is imbedded in the sole. In particular, it is of advantage if the permanent magnet is connected to the electrically conductive sole by means of a connecting line. In this way it is guaranteed that the magnet is at the same electrical potential as the sole.

Optimum grounding of the electrical potentials from the human body may be achieved by configuring the contact electrode as an electrically conductive fabric of metallic filaments. In this way even conventional socks may be worn without impairing the effectiveness of the shoe.

Ideally, as regards the invention, the contact electrode should be placed in the heel area of the shoe.

It is of particular advantage if the electrically conductive sole has a wave-shaped structure. To this end a special corrugated metal sheet may be used, made from a suitable alloy, for instance aluminium with added metallic components, such as gold. This special form has peaks and troughs, whose distances and heights are in a defined relationship, which may be adapted for a special purpose.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the embodiment shown in the enclosed drawings. There is shown in

FIG. 1 a shoe according to the invention as seen from above; and in

FIG. 2 a section along line II-II of FIG. 1.

The shoe shown in the figures is generally referred to as 1. The shoe has on its underside a sole 2 consisting of an insulating upper layer 3 and a lower conductive layer 4. The upper part 5 of the shoe 1 is attached to the sole 2 in a customary way.

In the front third of the sole 2 a permanent magnet 6 in the shape of a disc is imbedded, whose north-south direction is shown in FIG. 2 by the double arrow N-S. In the area of ball and toes a first contact electrode 7 is provided, which is connected via an electrical line 7 a of braided silver filaments to the conductive layer 4 of the sole 2. In the heel area of the shoe 1 a second contact electrode 8 is provided, which is connected via another electrical line 8 a to the electrically conductive layer 4 in the area of the heel 9 of the shoe 1. A connecting line 6 a is provided to connect the permanent magnet 6 to the contact electrode 7 and thus to the electrically conductive layer 4 of the sole 2.

In longitudinal direction the permanent magnet 6 is placed approximately in the middle of the shoe 1 in such a way that the distance L1 of the permanent magnet 6 from the front end of the shoe 1 is roughly a third of the total length L of the shoe 1. The two contact electrodes 7, 8 consist of a fabric into which metallic filaments have been incorporated.

A hologram, which is not shown in detail here and which comprises special runes, symbols or other information, may be worked into the sole.

The present invention offers the possibility of improving the health and well-being of persons in a significant way. 

1. A shoe (1) with an electrically conductive sole (2) and with at least one contact electrode (7, 8) inside the shoe (1), which is electrically connected to the sole (2), wherein at least one permanent magnet (6) is provided in the middle section of the sole (2) and corresponds to an acupuncture point.
 2. The shoe (1) according to claim 1, wherein the sole (2) consists of an electrically insulating layer (3) on whose underside an electrically conductive layer (4) is applied and that a connecting wire (7 a, 8 a) is provided, which connects the electrically conductive layer (4) to the contact electrode (7, 8).
 3. The shoe (1) according to claim 2, wherein the connecting wire (7 a, 8 a) contains silver filaments, which preferably are braided.
 4. The shoe (1) according to claim 3, wherein the permanent magnet (6) is placed under the end point of the kidney meridian, i.e., the acupuncture point N1.
 5. The shoe (1) according to claim 4, wherein the permanent magnet (6) is imbedded in the sole (2).
 6. The shoe (1) according to claim 5, wherein the permanent magnet (6) is connected to the electrically conductive sole (2) via a connecting line (6 a).
 7. The shoe (1) according to claim 6, wherein the contact electrode (7, 8) is configured as an electrically conductive fabric (4) with metallic filaments.
 8. The shoe (1) according to claim 7, wherein the contact electrode (7, 8) is positioned in the heel area of the shoe (1).
 9. The shoe (1) according to claim 8, wherein the electrically conductive sole (4) has a wave-shaped structure.
 10. The shoe (1) according to claim 9, wherein that a hologram is located on the outside of the shoe (1), which contains runes, symbols or other information. 